7 Days of Holiday Party Dresses: Maddie's magical natural dye dress

11.20.2013

A truly special ethereal custom-dyed holiday dress as part of my series, 7 Days of Holiday Party Dresses! Today Maddie from Madalynne tells us about the gorgeous dress she made with natural dye and simple lines. (See her post on the dying process here.)

For the past year and a half, my affinity has been in bra- and dressmaking, and can you blame me? Who
doesn’t love a good dress and a pair of underthings to go underneath? But this project called to me. A friend recently told me about the blog Blooming Leopold: in my old stomping grounds, Savannah, Georgia, Lauren of Blooming Leopold naturally dyes and sews simple, ethereal dresses. And she provides tutorials on many of her makings too! A month after I introduced myself to her, I asked her about doing a collaboration. Since September, when she sent me her dyeing steps and tips, this project has slowly come together. The long process wasn't a hindrance to my other projects, though; as I sat in front of my sewing machine, this project was either cooking, cooling, or drying.

Before choosing the pattern, I bought the dye and the fabric – alkanet and bamboo rayon. I love purples and magentas, especially with my hair and skin tone, and bamboo rayon is just heavenly. Have you ever had your hands on it? It’s light and airy and smooth as butt-ah.

The interesting thing about alkanet, which is the name of several plants in the borage family that give a red/purple color, is that it’s not water soluble. Under most circumstances, natural dyes are simmered anywhere between 1 to 3 hours prior to dyeing the fabric and the mixture is then left to cool, strained (to remove roots and powder), and then used as the dye bath. When I left alkanet over a stove for 3 hours, the mixture was light grey, not purple, and a test swatch barely picked up color. I emailed Lauren in a panic, but she calmed my nerves and wrote that most reviews said alkanet produced more of a greyish than purple tone and that I should double the amount of dye I used. I did another batch, this time increasing alkanet to 1 pound, the following weekend. On a whim, I called Dharma Trading Co to see what they had to say about my first test. The packaging of the alkanet said to soak the roots in a bath of isopropyl alcohol for up to two days, but because Lauren's directions didn't include this step, I left it out. Turns out, alkanet roots don't release their color in heated water like other natural dyes. The only way to get it to dye is by leaving it in rubbing alcohol. So, that what I did and for two days and boy, did my apartment wreak! Sorry, neighbors.

The coloring of the fabric didn't come out as I intended--I was going for a charcoal grey--but I love it. It’s not purple, but it’s not grey. It’s somewhere in between and both colors shine through just slightly. Because I dyed so much yardage at one time, the coloring was mottled and uneven, but the imperfections were consistent so it looks like it was the intention.

When choosing the pattern, I wanted the standout feature of the dress
to be the fabric, so I chose a pattern that had lots of it - McCall's 3912 (I omitted the sleeves).

The construction of the dress was simple. Inspired by kimonos, I left the side seams open at 5" below the
armhole and wore this slip underneath. Both the side seams and bottom hem have a 1/4" double turn-back
and the armhole was finished with self fabric bias binding. To make sewing the side seams easier, I switched the
order of operations. First, I finished the edges, and then I sewed the seam. For me, it was easier to make a
tiny hem such as a 1/4" double turn-back when the side seams are open. The neckband was clean finished to
the body and the top ply (layer) was fused with my newest obsession, Pro Sheer Elegance Light. People, I
don't think I'll ever go back to JoAnn-bought interfacing again. This interfacing doesn't shrink or bubble,
and comes with clear instructions and maintenance guidelines. Interfacing for dummies.

Summer, fall, winter, or spring, this dress works. The design doesn't fit in with my usual style, I'm drawn
to structured fabrics and silhouettes, but this project taught me that I can look and feel good in garments
outside my comfort zone.

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